Wrestler of the Decade Countdown: #3

*gulp* Here goes the hardest entry for me to write yet. It's time to play the game...

3. Triple H


It's common knowledge that I don't like Triple H. It's fair to say that when it comes to being a wrestler and a professional, I hate him (I don't hate the person. I don't know him, and he seems to be a decent guy to his fans.). If I had my druthers, Triple H would never appear on a wrestling show that I watch ever again. Ever.

However, he's here to stay, and personal preferences aside, he's had one hell of a run this decade. You would have to be hater supreme not to give the man his due. He has been an anchor for the company. He's over. He's wrestled in a lot of the decade's highest-profile matches and had some of the most heated feuds. But where the criticism comes in, criticism that ultimately keeps him out of the top spot overall, is that at least early on, a lot of what Triple H was given by creative (which conveniently had his wife in a prominent spot...) was akin to hammering a square peg into a round hole.

A funny thing happened though. That square peg sheared off the rough edges and became somewhat of a round peg. Crowds started to accept Triple H as this megastar, even if he didn't really have the pedigree for it. The problem is, and I've maintained this for years, that Triple H was always going to make the main event. You couldn't watch him in 1998 and say that he wouldn't translate to the next level. However, I've always felt that The Game was more suited for the Undertaker path. Instead, he got himself the Hogan path. I don't know what the mindset was that put him there. Was it Vince McMahon panicking when Steve Austin got hurt, leaving no one to play foil to The Rock? Maybe, but if he was patient and waited a few more years, he would have a strong core of Undertaker/Hart/Michaels guys to compliment and help John Cena, a born Hogan-type, get over huge anyway. Was it nepotism? Well, we can speculate all we want, and the evidence points strongly to it, but at the end of the day, what does it prove? It just gets most of the Internet fans riled up and then sighing for no constructive reason and the Triple H fanboys riled up and then making their sarcastic comments about the Internet fans who never liked Trips to begin with.

For this reason, Triple H, more than Cena, more than Hogan, more than The Rock, is the most polarizing figure in the WWE's history. Well, at least among "smart" fans he is. I guarantee you that most non-dork fans (I don't want to call them casual because they're not really casual and I don't want to call them non-Internet fans because they all most likely have the Internet) will argue more headily about Cena, Rocky or even Jeff Hardy, but on wrestling message boards, Triple H is the wrestling equivalent of starting a debate on abortion. In the end, no one is right and everyone just gets pissed off.

That all being said, he still was involved in some of the most important angles in the decade's history. His in-ring resumé, including epic tilts with Undertaker, Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit, Batista, Randy Orton, John Cena and of course, his all-time rival The Rock, is worthy enough. He's got some good tag team stuff on there, both with Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels as partners. Yeah, a lot of the square-peg-round-hole stuff involved his dreadful mic work in the first two years after his heel turn (the requisite 20-minute promo to start RAW every week being the most cited example), but when he's allowed to just be himself, he's pretty engaging.

(Note to the WWE writers... maybe you ought to let the reins loose on Randy Orton, since he's got the same boring and enraging effect now that Trips had 9 years earlier!)

So yeah, now that that's out of the way... fuck Triple H ;)

The List So Far
3. Triple H
4. The Undertaker
5. Kurt Angle
6. Edge
7. Eddie Guerrero
8. Dave Batista
9. Booker T
10. Randy Orton
11. Shawn Michaels
12. CM Punk
13. Jeff Hardy
14. The Rock
15. Bryan Danielson
16. Brock Lesnar
17. Jeff Jarrett
18. Rey Mysterio, Jr.
19. "Lightning" Mike Quackenbush
20. Chris Benoit
21. Samoa Joe
22. The Big Show
23. Sting
24. Rob Van Dam
25. Ric Flair

Tomorrow we get into a man whose character currently doesn't think very highly of you or any of your wrestling fan brethern.

FU WWE Video Dept.

So me, TK and Sean Mc. watched some DVDs tonight. I got my Chikara DVDs in the mail today, and TK brought over his Best of Smackdown DVD set. We watched the first disc of Anniversario Yang, which had some really good action on it (expect a full review when I watch disc 2). Then we switched over to the Best of Smackdown, which is a countdown of the top 100 moments in Smackdown history. Matches interspersed. Okay, good deal. We get to the first match of the DVD, an affair between a much-less tattooed Randy Orton with hair and the Undertaker. Ring intros get out of the way and we're ready to start when we get to the point where the first commercial break in the match would be. I was expecting that we'd see the uncut footage. I mean, that's what DVDs are for right?

Well I was wrong. They do the commercial break cut and come right back into the action seconds later.

Fuck.That.Noise.

I was under the impression that they kept the cameras rolling during commercial breaks. I mean, am I wrong here? If I'm not, then that's a pretty cheap way of running things. I'd hate to get really riled up over something that seems minor, but it really isn't minor. It's a microcosm of the way the company works. No attention to detail. Sigh.

I'll probably have a review of that DVD as well when we watch all of it. I'm sure it'll be good. Smackdown has had a lot of really good moments over the years, from the ridiculous of Kurt Angle shooting Big Show in the back with a tranquilizer dart to the sublime of John Cena's debut run, calling out Kurt Angle and then Brock Lesnar. Still, the fact that they don't give you the footage between the commercial breaks sticks in my craw.

Match Length ≠ Match Quality

There's a certain mindset out there that a match can't be good if it's less than a certain amount of time. While it's true in some cases that a match needs to be given a proper amount of time, not everything has to meet some mythical threshhold of time in order to be considered "good". It's true I said that they didn't give Evan Bourne and Jack Swagger enough time last night, but within the context of that match, they probably could have used a few more minutes. It felt like the two just traded a few spots, had a pretty good finish tacked on and that was it. It felt like it could have been fleshed out a bit more, that if Swagger was going to strongman his way to victory after a flurry of offense on Bourne, he should have had a few more minutes of high-impact offense.

However, they had a match during Beat the Clock and then another one after that that were both short, but once again, worked with the time given. In the first match, we saw Swagger cruising to a win until Bourne shocked him out of nowhere with the flash pin, ruining Swagger's chances at facing Randy Orton at SummerSlam. The next match they had, Swagger was piiissed and worked a glorified squash on Bourne, which was a cog in Swagger's short-lived and ill-fated feud with MVP. Neither match needed to be long, but both matches were great and put across what they needed to put across.

Economy of time is a wonderful thing when it comes to wrestling. If you can tell a story and leave the audience wowed in 15 minutes instead of 30, or even 5 instead of 15, it will leave a more salient mark on the viewer, and as a bonus, it leaves more time for other things on the show, stuff like promos, other matches or brawling-type angles.

And besides, nothing is worse than a match that drags on for far too long. For example, the awful Rosa Mendes/Mickie James match from last night. Mickie is awesome, but she's not to the point where she can carry a stiff like Mendes to a watchable match, especially when Mendes is blowing spot after spot. After the first flub, they should have called an audible and just ended the match right there. But since Mickie probably isn't savvy enough to do that, it just dragged on according to script. And dragged on some more. And kept dragging and dragging until the point where it felt like a weight was lifted off the collective shoulders of the audience and viewing public at home.

The best thing to ask yourself after a match is whether you were satisfied with it. If you were, odds are it probably didn't need more time. While it's nice to have PPV-quality matches on free TV, and while the WWE does give them to us more often than people realize, it's nice to see a good short match that advances something and keeps the audience on its toes.

3/4 of the Open the Freedom Gate Tourney Set

From the Dragon's mouth

So far, CIMA, YAMATO, Super Crazy, Mike Quackenbush, Davey Richards and Brian Kendrick have been announced for the tournament to crown the inaugural Open the Freedom Gate Championship, DGUSA's major title. When Super Crazy is the weakest link (not all that weak at all, really), you know it's gonna be a good tourney. Here's hoping that Gran Akuma can recover from his injuries quick enough and that the last entrant is one of the DG regulars (BxB Hulk, Dragon Kid, Naruki Doi etc.) to make it fan-freakin'-tastic.

PILING ON~!: Todd Martin on the End of RAW Last Night

Full column, courtesy of F4WOnline

Todd Martin, who runs down each episode of RAW, explaining what he didn't like about the end segment. Same thing I said, only he said it much better:

I really liked the start of this segment. The story of the heels beating down the champion and weakening him for Orton to me was compelling storytelling. I didn’t like the twist of the cage lowering and Orton turning chicken heel at all.

To begin with, I don’t think Orton should be portrayed as a coward. It’s a trait that works well for many heels (like Chris Jericho for example), but I think it undermines Orton and diminishes his character.

Moreover, psychologically it’s just weird to have Orton so excited about getting this beaten up Cena only to become terrified when the cage lowered. Shouldn’t he be happy that he gets this terribly weakened champion all to himself? If he’s such a coward, why does he even want a title rematch in a cell match? Why would he even want this gauntlet match? It’s not unjustifiable psychologically, but to me it strains credibility within the context of the story.

Then there’s the fact that Orton just left through the cage door immediately after the cage lowered. What exactly is the point of this cage if he can leave so easily? It was like they brought the cage there to specifically make the point that you can escape, which seems to me the exact opposite feeling you want fans to have about the cage.

And finally, there’s the issue of the consumer perspective. What are we paying for? Cena’s already beaten up Orton, made him submit and taken his title. Orton has done nothing in the interim and apparently has no confidence in himself in this rematch. So what’s the point of the whole thing? It’s just not very good storytelling or build.

Moral of the story: The WWE has too many chickenshit heels. The writers need to learn how to write more than just "superman face" and "cowardly heel". It works for Jericho. It works for Edge. Hell, it even works for CM Punk in the right situation. It doesn't work for Randy Orton, The Miz or Jack Swagger.

Wrestler of the Decade Countdown: #4

Rest in peace...

4. The Undertaker


While the Undertaker has always been one of the WWF/E's marquee superstars, he really never was "The Man". Even when he was given his WrestleMania moments, it was always in the shadow of other guys' runs (Austin, Hart, Cena, etc.). Still, as much of a background superstar as Taker has been, he's always been a sort of kingmaker and highlight feud for any major star from Hulk Hogan to CM Punk.

What is so interesting about the Dead Man though is his match quality. Sure, he was never a slug, but oddly enough, his matches have become better quality over the years, like scarily good improvements when most people either level out or slow down as they reach the age that Undertaker has in this decade. The in-ring tale of the tape for Taker is immense though. Triple H at WrestleMania 17. Brock Lesnar in a Hell in the Cell. Great series with JBL, The Big Show and Edge. WrestleMania matches with Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels that have been universally lauded. All that, plus his WrestleMania streak match has become a de facto title match. I mean, the streak match is built up like a title match, and it has the fanfare and pomp, even without the WWE jamming it down everyone's throats. That has to be a major feather in the Dead Man's cap.

Undertaker is proof positive that you don't need to be the focus of the company in order to make a mark. He's always shared spotlight, but it's that role that's made him an invaluable piece, both in-ring and out in the WWE this decade and during his whole career.

The List So Far
4. The Undertaker
5. Kurt Angle
6. Edge
7. Eddie Guerrero
8. Dave Batista
9. Booker T
10. Randy Orton
11. Shawn Michaels
12. CM Punk
13. Jeff Hardy
14. The Rock
15. Bryan Danielson
16. Brock Lesnar
17. Jeff Jarrett
18. Rey Mysterio, Jr.
19. "Lightning" Mike Quackenbush
20. Chris Benoit
21. Samoa Joe
22. The Big Show
23. Sting
24. Rob Van Dam
25. Ric Flair

Tomorrow, we move to perhaps the most polarizing WWE wrestler of all-time.

Instant Feedback: Yawwnnnnn...

Talk about flat.

Firstly, they could have gone in one of three directions with Al Sharpton hosting, the best having him make fun of himself like previous hosts (a la Seth Green) have done. The worst would have been having him come out and cried racism at everything. They went with door number three and just had him be there, which was fine, but not really all that interesting. He had a good agenda to push though, and I truly hope he and Newt Gingrich succeed with their Education Reform Tour.

Secondly, the wrestling really wasn't all that great. The best match by far was Bourne/Swagger, and it didn't get the time it needed to develop into something that would have been noteworthy enough to get a MOTW nomination over at Smark's Choice. The tag match was a disappointment given the caliber of wrestlers in it. All four of them seemed flat. Plus, Chavo getting Stockholm Syndrome (although I admit, Santino was fucking awesome in that match)? Mickie James having to carry Rosa Mendes kicking and screaming and it just not happening? John Cena, "defying the odds" once more, shaking off a brutal beatdown from the Tag Champs just to make Randy Orton look like a punk bitch once again? Yeah, not a huge fan.

That being said, it didn't have the stench of awfulness that RAW has been known to have. Still, I can't help but feel that the only fresh wrinkle they threw on the show was Chavo showing mercy on Hornswoggle after Masters put him in the Masterlock. I mean, we're going on the third PPV in a row with the same three top matches for RAW (and one top match for Smackdown). Shit's getting tired already. RAW needs a shake-up, fresh midcard feuds (not ones lazily thrown together like this "steal this title!" for hte US Championship), fresh main event feuds moreso. I'm not going to say that if they don't, it'll spell doom because there really hasn't been growth or decline over the last year too drastic to call it anything other than seasonal fluctuation. However, it would be nice if they gave the adult fans, the lifelong fans, the fans who aren't impressed that the fucking average visit to WWEUniverse.com is greater than the average visit to Facebook or Twitter a little something week in and week out.

Wrestler of the Decade Countdown: #5

It's true, it's damn true.

5. Kurt Angle


Kurt Angle first made his bones in legitimate wrestling in 1996 by winning a couple of gold medals at the Atlanta Olympics, using it as his gimmick upon entry into the WWF. When he first debuted, many people, including myself, thought him as a goober, a corny Bob Backlund-clone not edgy enough for the new wrestling. We were wrong.

Kurt Angle developed into one of the best, if not the best, funny-guy characters and a damn fine wrestler to boot. He's also a guy who's defeated the odds by not imploding due to his rampant drug use that got him fired on the first offense from the WWE. Read that again, the company that just gave Chris Masters a second at-bat after he whiffed on the three-strikes policy, didn't want to keep a guy in Angle who was a proven draw. That's how batshit insane he was and may still be.

It's that self-proclaimed, self-imposed exile to TNA that is keeping Angle out of the top 3 and maybe even out of the top spot altogether. Sure, it might be better on the psyche to rein in Hell rather than serve Triple H in Heaven (if you want to call the WWE Heaven), but for your career, well, not so much. Still, Angle does give TNA some mainstream credibility. You also cannot deny the impact he had on the WWF/E during his time there, from the feuds with Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit and Big Show, to the unfulfilled but intriguing-while-it-lasted love triangle with Stephanie. He was a great foil to Steve Austin in the WCW faction, and he was also the perfect rival for Brock Lesnar when he was around.

While he's sorta petered out at the end of the decade, Angle's resumé is enough to get him into the top five. Here's hoping that there's a change in direction in TNA and they become a bigger presence, and here's hoping that Angle totally cleans himself up and dedicates himself to his craft rather than chasing Knockout tail, doing drugs and being a menace to himself and others, because Angle is truly a natural, a gifted performer who can anchor any successful company when clean and sober.

The List So Far
5. Kurt Angle
6. Edge
7. Eddie Guerrero
8. Dave Batista
9. Booker T
10. Randy Orton
11. Shawn Michaels
12. CM Punk
13. Jeff Hardy
14. The Rock
15. Bryan Danielson
16. Brock Lesnar
17. Jeff Jarrett
18. Rey Mysterio, Jr.
19. "Lightning" Mike Quackenbush
20. Chris Benoit
21. Samoa Joe
22. The Big Show
23. Sting
24. Rob Van Dam
25. Ric Flair

Tomorrow, it's the wrestling equivalent of a fine wine, a man who's gotten much better with age.

Wrestler of the Decade Bonus Material: The Honorable Mentions

Before we get into the top five, which I'm sure you all can guess who'll be in it, why not mention a few of the guys who almost made the list but didn't? We'll start with the two wrestlers I almost included but didn't, AJ Styles and Christian. Styles has been with TNA since its inception, and his track record might have warranted him inclusion on this list. However, he was featured heavily before anyone really gave a crap about the fed, and once it started getting exposure, he was de-pushed until now. Christian's successes in TNA were pretty cool for people who've wanted to see him on top, and he's been probably the best in-ring wrestler in the WWE since his return. Still, it was hard to include him over guys like Show and Sting.

Two heavy hitters from previous decades, Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin deserve some kind of mention. Hogan experienced a short career renaissance in the WWF/E after WCW folded, including a heavily hyped and well-received WrestleMania match against The Rock, which lead to him winning the WWF Championship. Still, he faded after the Mr. America angle with Zach Gowan fizzled and became more a reality star than wrestling star. Austin might have made more waves in the company had his injuries not caught up with him, but they did. He had one of the most shocking and fan-resisted heel turns of all-time though at WM17, again involving The Rock, and he was rightfully inducted into the Hall of Fame this past year.

Monty Brown looked like he could have been TNA's answer for a home-grown star to answer the WWE, but the 'E took him, changed his name and drove him out of the business. Meanwhile, Christopher Daniels was a big part of the indie scene in the beginning of the decade and the X-Division breakthrough with Styles and Samoa Joe. Homicide followed a similar path, although he actually broke through in ROH and won their Championship and had a very successful tag team run with Hernandez. Another ROH/TNA HM mention goes to Low Ki, who had good runs in both companies and is now hurt while toughing it out in FCW.

Bobby Lashley and Umaga had a high-profile match at WrestleMania XXIII and were out of the WWE by the middle of this year. Lashley looks like he could be headed for big things in TNA, although he's trying to do that and MMA at the same time. Yeah, good luck with that.

Nigel McGuinness, on his way to the WWE, was a big part of ROH winning the Pure and World Championships, the latter reign he ended wrestling hurt with two torn biceps. TWO TORN BICEPS. Rhino ended up having moderate success for the WWE but made his hay mostly with TNA.

Finally, JBL ascended to main event level in the WWE, although he took a few years off due to injury to the announce table. While he'll always be more remembered for his backstage dickery, he was a great performer and main event presence in the ring, helping to get John Cena initially over.

Wrestler of the Decade Countdown: #10-#6

Into the top ten, where we begin to hear voices...

10. Randy Orton


Orton has had a bumpy road to the top, mainly because of his own design. Breaking the Wellness Program, shitting in Divas' bags and having legit anger issues will do that to you. That being said, Orton has done well for himself this decade, both as a babyface (albeit shortly) and mostly as a heel with his Legend Killer shtick, which helped get him over big time. He was a huge part of Evolution, especially its break up as Triple H booted him out of the group for winning the World Championship. I honestly think Orton needs a face turn. He doesn't work as a heel anymore now that the Legend Killer act has run its course. He's got nothing left except for a finisher more suited for a top face, which Orton has shown flashes of being able to perform as.

After the jump...9. Booker T


He was one of the only reasons to watch WCW towards the end of the run. He was one of the only guys from that company to segue into something more than humiliation in the WWF/E after WCW's purchase and assimilation. He got over huge as both a face and a heel, formed one of the most over tag team duos in the company with Goldust and now currently is one of the only reasons anyone should watch TNA. Yeah, I think Booker T has had a hell of a run this decade, don't you?

8. Dave Batista


Batista didn't get started in wrestling until later in life, but he's making the most of his days in the ring. After the dissolution of Evolution, Batista's chase of Triple H and subsequent title victory at WrestleMania was one of the most well-booked and brilliant angles of the decade. Since then Batista's been a fixture around the title and a draw for the company. Some will say that all Batista ever seems to do is hover around the title, and justifiably so, since the only time I ever remember him not being in a title program outside of being hurt was when he pseudo-feuded with HBK last year as a segue into the awesome Jericho/Michaels feud. Criticisms about his mic skills or quality of work aside, Batista is defintely a top ten wrestler for this decade.

7. Eddie Guerrero


Eddie left us way too soon in the middle of his cementing as an all-timer. While WCW could never really figure him out, the WWF/E took the charismatic Latino Heat and let him shine to the tune of a World Championship and a WrestleMania moment that has since been tarnished thanks to one Chris Benoit. Still, the impact felt by Eddie this decade is very, very real. Is he ranked too high out of sentimentality? Maybe, maybe not. I know I miss him and think that the WWE is a colder place without him, but his credentials are strong enough for him to warrant a spot in the top ten, I think.

6. Edge


Out of the tag boom in the early part of the decade comes Edge. He was definitely pushed the hardest out of all six competitors, and he got a good return for what they put into him. Injuries aside, Edge proved that he could carry the top of the card as a franchise heel and carry a top title the way a Champion should. Nine World/WWE Championships, the first ever Money in the Bank title and several memorable moments on WWE TV this decade later lands Edge just outside the top five... and really, you could make a case that he belongs in that top five as well.

The List So Far
6. Edge
7. Eddie Guerrero
8. Dave Batista
9. Booker T
10. Randy Orton
11. Shawn Michaels
12. CM Punk
13. Jeff Hardy
14. The Rock
15. Bryan Danielson
16. Brock Lesnar
17. Jeff Jarrett
18. Rey Mysterio, Jr.
19. "Lightning" Mike Quackenbush
20. Chris Benoit
21. Samoa Joe
22. The Big Show
23. Sting
24. Rob Van Dam
25. Ric Flair

Tomorrow, we begin with the individual entries as we crack the top 5 with a multiple time former WWE Champion.

One More Note from ROH: Eddie Edwards Is a Beast

Eddie Edwards broke his elbow last night against Kevin Steen in Boston. Did that stop him from wrestling tonight in Ladder Wars II with Davey Richards against Steen and El Generico? Hell no. Edwards, who is getting surgery on Thursday to fix that arm, wrestled in the Wolves' victory over SteenErico to retain the ROH Tag Team Championships.

Call him stupid or call him gutty, EE has most likely become a made man in ROH because of his performance, much like Nigel McGuinness did when it was discovered he was defending his ROH World Championship with two torn biceps. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery for this warrior of the squared circle, even though he probably still hates me for riding him at the last set of ROH tapings.

Ignore That Last Blog

I can't find reports of Hero-to-the-WWE anywhere, so just ignore that last one. Guess I got burned, especially since Hero won tonight and is excited over Jim Cornette going to ROH. Oh, there's a news story for you, Jim Cornette has found a bridge he hasn't burnt to cinders in the industry yet. Executive producer in ROH, basically an advisory role. Hopefully, Adam Pearce heeds him better than Vince Russo did. ROH could use some booking help. Yeah, the in-ring action is superb, but sometimes, the actually decisions they have booking matches can leave you scratching your head.

Very Early (and possibly false) Report: Chris Hero to WWE

Source

It's not being reported anywhere reputable yet, so I'm hesitant to fully believe it, but PowerSlam Magazine's Facebook feed is reporting Chris Hero has signed with the WWE. If this is the case, then it's a great signing for the WWE, who has the resources to help take some of the jagged edges off Hero's game. It's also great for Hero who has the raw charisma and in-ring ability to pull off the WWE's main event style. If it's true, it's also huge for Chikara's WrestleFactory, as Hero will be the second alum and possibly the best chanced one to get a deal (the first being Claudio Castagnoli).

OF course, if this deal turns out not to be true, then I'll be happy to have to wipe the egg off my face, but these are the chances you take when you don't have inside sources for news. Plus, I'm going to AC later on today, so I'm in a gambling mood.

Wrestler of the Decade Countdown: #15-#11

Now we're getting into some of the heavy hitters.

15. Bryan Danielson


Indie wrestling has been an ever-changing thing over the last 3 decades. In the last one, it found an identity and formula with ECW, but you could argue that it didn't become truly big until this decade, when WCW and ECW folded and left a huge void for people who didn't want to ingest what Titan was producing. It made careers for a whole new breed of puroresu and lucha-libre influenced youngsters ready to give the market what it wanted stateside, and the leader was unquestionably Bryan Danielson. One of ROH's anchors for the entire existance of the company until now, AmDrag's name on the card would guarantee a good gate and at least one top-quality match on the card. Wherever he was booked, whether it was one of the indie giants like ROH or PWG or just some piddling little local fed in the Midwest, he got people to come out. It's fitting that he waited until the end of this decade to close out his era in the indies, because I have a feeling that the next decade will see Danielson rise up and snatch the WWE by it's shorthairs.

XIV per XI14. The Rock


If Rocky had stuck around the entire decade, there's no doubt in my mind that he'd be #1 on this list. I mean, he always had the charisma, the mic skills and the ability to make a crowd eat out of his hand. He was also always very good in the ring, regardless of what the smark-ass n00bs who hated him for whatever stupid reason would say. In the Aughts though, he was beginning to become a ring general, a guy that you could count on carrying your worst wrestlers to having a good match. There was no greater example of this than him taking a broken-down Hulk Hogan and carrying him to perhaps the match of that year at WrestleMania 18. Again, as with Lesnar, I don't begrudge Rock his movie career, although I'd begrudge him it even less if he made movies that I actually wanted to go see instead of joining Tim Allen in Disney indentured servitude. But like Lesnar, actually, even moreso than Lesnar, wrestling is a colder, less vibrant place for him having left. I miss The Rock to this day, and I miss him more than Eddie Guerrero, Owen Hart, Brock Lesnar, Hulk Hogan, a sober Scott Hall, a healthy Steve Austin... hell, anyone who's left the industry for whatever reason combined. For now, I have memories of him tearing it up in the beginning part of this decade, showing signs of becoming perhaps the best wrestler of all-time.

13. Jeff Hardy


Jeff Hardy is guy who could have placed a lot higher on this list if not for certain roadblocks. Of course, I have a hard time feeling sorry for Hardy because his roadblocks are all self-inflcted. Here's a guy who could have been one of the biggest of all-time, but would rather sit back and do drugs. Whatever. His drug use messed up his push in the WWE on two separate occasions, and a third time, after he left the 'E most recently, it's threatening to send him to jail for a good long time. Regardless, he was a huge part of the vibrant WWF/E tag scene in the beginning part of the decade and was perhaps the company's biggest draw among the little kid market that they're pushing the product to in the last part of the decade. Throw in a successful run in TNA in the middle, and 13 sounds about right for the Charismatic Enigma Enabler.

12. CM Punk


I wonder if anyone sitting in that high-school gym in Allentown, PA watching the Gold Bond Mafia in Chikara's very formative years would have guessed that its leader, some bleach-blond skinny and preachy prick in basketball shorts would become the biggest heel in all of wrestling by the year 2009? Well, if they did, they were clairvoyant. CM Punk has the wrestling world by its balls right now, and it's truly a sight to behold. He was one of the indie world's darlings in ROH, being so valuable to the fed that former head booker Gabe Sapolsky has said he was one of the guys that he dreaded getting the word that he was going to the WWE or TNA. Then, after getting over as a face in the WWE despite playing a somewhat generic character, he turned on the jets and now could be the 'E's franchise heel for the next 15 years. Yep, the run's not over, and it's conceivable that he'll be in the top spot when the Tens are in the books.

11. Shawn Michaels


Is '00s Shawn Michaels the best part-time wrestler ever? I mean, for a guy who hasn't worked a full-time schedule since the Clinton Administration, he's been involved in some of the best matches this decade. His WrestleMania resumé alone is enviable for any wrestler - vs. Kurt Angle, vs. Ric Flair, vs. Undertaker, vs. John Cena - all MOTY-quality tilts. He also dragged a good match out of an aforementioned-broken down Hulk Hogan. Of course, a great part-time wrestler still only gets you to 11 on this countdown, but then again, there have been a lot of strong candidates in this decade even if wrestling has taken a mainstream downturn.

The List So Far
11. Shawn Michaels
12. CM Punk
13. Jeff Hardy
14. The Rock
15. Bryan Danielson
16. Brock Lesnar
17. Jeff Jarrett
18. Rey Mysterio, Jr.
19. "Lightning" Mike Quackenbush
20. Chris Benoit
21. Samoa Joe
22. The Big Show
23. Sting
24. Rob Van Dam
25. Ric Flair

Tomorrow, it's into the top ten with two members of a dominant stable and a sentimental favorite who left us too soon.

The Best Moves Ever: Diamond Cutter

There were more than a few questions when I posted my best WWE finishers as to why I didn't include the RKO. Well, two reasons. For one, it's not a good heel finisher. Randy Orton needs to be a face in order to have the move work really well for him. Two, Orton doesn't pull the move off as well as Diamond Dallas Page did. Yeah, Orton's probably a better overall wrestler than DDP (whom I never really liked all that much outside the Diamond Cutter). Yeah, Orton adds the little leap, but DDP actually put your head on the canvas, which is a much better touch than the leap. Anyway, in honor of said move, here's a montage of DDP giving a bunch of people the Diamond Cutter:

Friday Five: Bobby "The Brain" Heenan

This week's Five is all about one of the great heel managers and color commentators of all-time.

1. Where would you rank Heenan in terms of all-time managers?

2. Which PBP guy did he work best with?

3. What do you think of Heenan's work in WCW? Was he still as good as when he was in the WWF, or did it suffer?

4. What was your favorite Heenan moment?

5. Which current wrestler would benefit from having 1988 Bobby Heenan as his manager?

Wrestler of the Decade Countdown: #20-#16

Yesterday, we got the list started. Today, we keep it rolling with two pretty controversial choices to kick things off.

20. Chris Benoit


He was supposed to be the man that proved the Internet right, but instead he went down in a blaze of self-destruction, paranoia and murder. The world will not remember Chris Benoit for anything more than the murder of his child and wife, and many people would be okay with that. Still, it's hard to deny the mark he left on the business in this decade before he betrayed all of us and more importantly, snuffed out the lives of two innocent victims. Would he have been ranked higher had he lived, or died in a less ignomious fashion? Probably. Is it fair? Absolutely. Benoit's vicious ending to his life cast a pall over the sport of professional wrestling that it will probably never recover from. Twenty might seem a little high for some people and a little low for others, especially the delusional who still think he didn't do the crimes. Regardless, Benoit belongs on this list albeit with a cautionary tale that we shouldn't put so much hero worship at the laps of these flawed men and women, and that this business is more fucked up than most of us would ever want to admit.

#19-1619. "Lightning" Mike Quackenbush


Unless you're really into the deep indies or are a fan of Chikara, you'll say "Who?" to this choice. However, you shouldn't. Why? Because Quack has been one of the most influential, if not the most influential wrestler in the major indies this decade. He co-founded Chikara, which has become Philly's go-to indie. He's produced some of the biggest prospects in the game right now (Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli, Eddie Kingston) and some of the most talented members of the Chikara roster (Gran Akuma, Hallowicked, the Colony). He's one of the most respected wrestlers in the indies today and in this entire decade. He's brought Jorge Rivera, the man who trained Rey Mysterio among others, to the forefront. A quick glance might elicit a "WTF" but upon deeper inspection, Quack belongs.

18. Rey Mysterio, Jr.


Speaking of ReyRey, who'da thunk that 12-year old-looking, thug-life dressed little buddy to Konnan in WCW at the end of last decade would become the WWE's biggest draw among Latino wrestling fans? Chalk up ReyRey as a guy the WWE got right that WCW could never figure out. OF course, the WWE never got him completely right either, since they booked him like dogshit after winning the World Championship, but a guy who brings in fans and has had a WrestleMania main event under his belt can't be too far down on the list, can he?

17. Jeff Jarrett


Double J would have been a lot higher on this list except for two reasons. One, he gave himself the Triple H treatment even though his company didn't have the market presence that the WWE had, and two, well, he failed to make TNA have its own identity rather than trying to imitate 1998 WWF booking ad nauseam. TNA only competes with the WWE on the surface only. Any company that has TV and monthly PPV is nominal, but in order to compete, you have to actually pose a threat. That's why ROH is more competition for TNA than TNA is for the WWE. Still, this isn't a company comparison; it's a wrestler comparison. Jarrett, for all his faults, was a huge part of TNA and a big reason why they've gotten as far as they have.

16. Brock Lesnar


If we're just going off peaks, then Lesnar would be top 5, maybe even top 3. No one burst out of the gate with as much promise as the hulking former NCAA Champion, and no one delivered like he did in his two years in the company in this decade. However, it's a retrospective at the entire decade, and that's why Lesnar tops out at 16. He burned brightly and then decided that wrestling wasn't for him, pissing off a lot of his fans, like myself. The path he took afterwards alienated him further from wrestling, although it made his mainstream star rise that much more. There's no argument as to how much more famous UFC has made him than he could ever have dreamed of being in wrestling, that's for sure. I don't begrudge him his success in MMA, but that same success hurts his wrestling accomplishments, since MMA's popularity helps destroy that of pro wrestling. Still, no matter how much his legacy in the WWE is hurt by his growing stardom in UFC, I'm sure he doesn't care and neither do the millions of fans who enjoy his matches or love to hate him as UFC's resident villain. I can say all I want, but it doesn't matter.

The List So Far
16. Brock Lesnar
17. Jeff Jarrett
18. Rey Mysterio, Jr.
19. "Lightning" Mike Quackenbush
20. Chris Benoit
21. Samoa Joe
22. The Big Show
23. Sting
24. Rob Van Dam
25. Ric Flair

Tomorrow, we get into some of the real heavy hitters, including two guys whose best years may still be ahead of them. Wrestler of the Decade for the Tens, maybe?

From the Archives, DragonNigel Week Epilogue: Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness (c)

I really meant to post this during the weekend, but there was just so much going on at Casa de TH that I never got around to posting it. However, it's fitting that the last mark on DragonNigel Week be one of their many matches in a ROH ring. This one has Nigel defending his ROH World Championship against Dragon from Rising Above in 2008.

This was their ninth match in ROH, this one headlining one of ROH's PPVs. It's a fantastic, well-worked match that was almost perfect if it weren't for a run-in from Claudio Castagnoli. The best things about this match are the hot Chicago crowd and in the middle of the match, where both guys trade pin sequences. See for yourself. Enjoy!

Part 1:

Nigel McGuinness vs Bryan Danielson Rising Above 2008 part1
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Part 2:

Nigel McGuinness vs Bryan Danielson Rising Above 2008 part2
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Wrestler of the Decade Countdown: #25-#21

Here's the first installment of the Top 25 Wrestlers of the Decade list. The guys bringing up the rear. Not impactful enough to place in the high spots, but still memorable enough to gain notice over the hundreds and thousands of men who stepped into the ring in the United States or Canada in this decade. Without further ado:

25. Ric Flair


Talk about a wrestling legend. Ric Flair's placement on this list is more than just nostalgia for a man who could be considered the greatest ever to lace up the boots. Even as a part-timer, his mark on the WWE and wrestling in general was an indelible one. He was a key figure in Evolution as both a manager and in the ring when he was called upon it. A big part as to why he made this list is his WrestleMania resumé, which includes a fantastic "final" match with Shawn Michaels. This may be more sentimental than anything, but I don't think anyone will begrudge the Legend the 25th spot on a top 25.

#24 through #2124. Rob Van Dam


Talk about wasted potential, no pun intended. RVD could have been Jeff Hardy before Jeff Hardy was Jeff Hardy, but he ran into some political machinations when he arrived in the WWE, both from Triple H and from Chris Jericho. Still, he got over to the point where he was both the inaugural WWE-ECW Champion and the WWE Champion. Even his accomplishments in the dying days of the original ECW can't be denied. However, here's a guy who was content to sit back and smoke pot rather than work for the last half of the decade. Fine for him if that's his choice, but his rap sheet needed a lot of help to get higher than this point anyway.

23. Sting


It's funny how long Sting has stuck around the business without even having a cup of coffee in the WWE. Despite not getting that exposure, he's made a nice run for himself in TNA and has been one of their go-to stars. Even now, he's in the process of passing the torch to AJ Styles, which is more than any of the other holdouts from the WCW/WWE days of glory can say. He may have been broken down for the end of his run, but I think he deserves a spot on this list.

22. The Big Show


In another era, Paul Wight might have been one of the biggest stars in the industry. Show's biggest strike against him, even moreso than his tendency to be unmotivated, is that wrestling has become a shorter man's game, a more athletic man's game. Despite wrestling crowd's malaise towards big men, Show has been a stalwart this decade. He's main evented two WrestleManias. Yeah, both matches were mutli-men matches where he really wasn't the main focus, but he was there. He's also been more than a good soldier for the company, taking the hit against Akebono and Floyd Mayweather on the big stage. He's done everything asked of him, and really, the laziness that plagued him in 1999 seems to have disappeared. When he's not hurt, he's an asset. It's a shame that someone of his talent couldn't get more though.

21. Samoa Joe


Joe was always going to be in a tough spot. He could never live up to the billign he had in the indies on the next level because the only two options were going to the WWE and having to play a "traditional Samoan gimmick" (read, El Hijo del Umaga) or go to TNA and be saddled with horrible booking with a far dimmer spotlight than what Titan Sports shone. Still, he made it good for himself in this decade with his ROH run and with his initial TNA run, where he, AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels made the X-Division the place to be, at least critically. It's a shame that they turned him into Kurt Angle's bitch, threw the title on him haphazardly and then painted a dong on his face, but then again, I also never really saw what was so special about him anyway. Still, he deserves mention.

Tune in tomorrow for 20 through 16, which will no doubt include the most controversial two choices for two different reasons.

Wrestler of the Decade: Prologue

The Aughts are coming to a close soon, and as all pretentious bloggers do, I was thinking about who the Wrestler of the Decade was. It came on from this thread at PTC, which is also where I got the article where Hogan put over Jericho. It got me thinking, who is the Wrestler of the Decade? Is there really a slam dunk? I mean, really, was there any decade where there was a slam-dunk winner? I'm not too familiar with wrestling pre-1980, but after that, there's debate. In the '80s, Hulk Hogan might have seemed like a lock, but really, there are those who'd say that Ric Flair would give him a run for his money. In the '90s, well, Hogan again was a major player, but then you had Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Goldberg, Steve Austin and The Rock as well.

This decade is no different. There are no fewer than four really strong contenders that I think could take the top spot. But then again, there are other guys who've had impact in this decade that deserve mention. So, I'm going to embark on a project: listing the top 25 wrestlers of the Aughts. It won't be easy, and when it's all said and done, people will probably want my scalp. But hey, I'm a blogger, and this is the kind of thing I do. If I couldn't handle people thinking I was a dope, I wouldn't be doing this.

So, starting tomorrow, you'll get the wrestlers in groups of five, and then the top five will get their own pages each. That's nine days of listage. I hope you enjoy even if you don't agree.

My Favorite Wrestler of Yesteryear Puts Over My Favorite Current Wrestler

Article

Hulk Hogan put over a bunch of guys on a recent Bubba the Love Sponge appearance, including Chris Jericho, about whom the Hulkster had nothing but glowing things to say. For someone who's a fan of both guys, it's awesome to read about. It also shows that maybe in his old age, Hogan learned a thing or two about backstage decorum. Talk about bridging the gap between eras in wrestling fandom.

God Bless Chikara

As you know, I attended King of Trios Night 1. It was amazing, a good time was had by all, and Chikara earned itself a fan and endless praise on this here blog that night. I missed out on the next two nights for whatever reason, but now, I'm really pissed that I didn't go, especially to night two. Why? Well, now that the King of Trios tournament has made it to recap-action on Chikara's Podcast-a-Go-Go series (a great way to keep up with the fed if you can't attend every event, btw), I got to see some great clipped action from Night Two, a four-way match featuring Kota Ibushi, Nick Jackson of the Young Bucks, Jigsaw (the real one, not me in the mask) and blog favorite and all around superhuman luchador El Generico. Really, not a bad apple in the basket if you ask me. Judging from the following clip, I missed a hell of a match:



Honestly, I have no idea how Ibushi hasn't garnered attention from the WWE by now. All four men impress, but Ibushi is the most impressive, and given what went down in that clip, that's saying something. God bless Chikara.

Instant Feedback: RAW Is Classy

Tonight's RAW wasn't terrible. In fact, it was pretty good, given that the opening segment forebode something a lot more awful. I have to give them props on how they handled the Chavo/Cedric match. I hate the feud, and I wish it would just end, but it was funny this week. Also, surprise surprise, Miz and Evan Bourne had a good-to-great match.

But the most impressive part of RAW tonight was the classy and respectful send-off they gave Lilian Garcia. An employee for the last decade, Garcia has had her share of lumps, but she's also been an indelible voice for the RAW brand and for the company in general. That they let her say goodbye without shenaningans, without embarrassment, without anything but respect shows a lot. I'm happy, because I've always liked Lilian. Kudos to the 'E for that.

Of course, how they'll follow up next week is another matter altogether. Unlike most people, I have high hopes for Al Sharpton, as long as he's self-deprecating. Of course, it's a go-home show for the PPV, but with track record for those kinds of shows, well, I expect not a whole lot in the way of driving it home. Of course, it'd help if they didn't have a PPV every other week.

LiveBlog: RAW Is Cedric~!

Are you disappointed that I haven't updated much since Friday? Well, how about a LiveBlog to make up for it? Does that make you feel better? No? Well then, too bad!

Belated Friday Five

A smattering of random questions, since I forgot yesterday:

1. Who is your favorite wrestler?

2. What's your feeling on Mexican mini-estrellas?

3. How significant was Ron Simmons being the first black man to win the WCW World Championship?

4. Best and worst WrestleMania main events of all-time?

5. Is the original ECW historically overrated?

TH Books Nigel McGuinness' WWE Debut

Nigel McGuinness comes into the WWE at a decided disadvantage compared to Bryan Danielson. He’s most likely going to FCW for some fine-tuning, while it’s rumored that Danielson will be able to skip right to the bigs. He also isn’t as politically connected as Danielson. Finally, he doesn’t have the ready-made entry program with a guy like Jericho (or even with DX should they go that route). It was a little tougher to think of an interesting entry angle for Nigel, but I got some help in the unlikely form of a sarcastic catcall from my friend Tom Kingsmill at the 9/10 ROH tapings, where he yelled at Nigel “Have fun tagging with Paul Burchill!” It was funny at the time, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought it was a good idea. So, without further ado:

After the jump...It’s the week after Survivor Series… 2010 though, not 2009. The draft has shaken things up and sent Paul Burchill and his sister Katie Lea to Smackdown, where he’s been struggling a bit. His scheduled match for the evening is against fellow ECW transplant Gregory “Hurricane” Helms. After the show intro, Helms is being interviewed by Josh Matthews, but before he can finish, he’s waylaid by a guy in a mask. He’s visibly injured, but he comes out to wrestle anyway. Burchill finishes him in quick order. Afterwards, Helms grabs a mic and accuses Burchill of attacking him before the match under the mask as a way to get easy wins after his current rough streak.

The very next Smackdown, Burchill is interviewed and asked about the attack on Hurricane. He says that he didn’t do it, and that it’s probably someone giving Hurricane a taste of his own medicine, sneaking up and attacking him. He’s then asked about his match against Shad Gaspard of Cryme Tyme, and Burchill says he has his own way of taking care of the bigger guy from the team. After the very next commercial break, it’s a cut to the backstage area where Gaspard is lying on the ground, clutching his knee. JTG and the rest of the retinue of refs and security are surrounding him, JTG saying that some dude in a mask kneecapped his partner just a second ago. Gaspard isn’t as injured as Helms was, and is able to make it to the ring, where he’s wrestling Burchill competitively until Burchill kicks his knee out from under him. He works the leg and gets him to tap with a single crab.

The next week on Smackdown, Cryme Tyme open the show and demand that Burchill come out and pay the piper for what he’s been doing. Burchill comes out and says that he hasn’t been doing anything and that his sister can vouch for him. Burchill conveniently has the night off, but Cryme Tyme is set to wrestle against Legacy 2.0 (Cody Rhodes and Joe Hennig). Cryme Tyme wins the match, but afterwards, the masked figure hops out of the crowd, ready to pounce. Cryme Tyme gets wind of this and grab him. They play to the crowd and then unmask him expecting Burchill, but they get Nigel McGuinness. The crowd doesn’t know who he is, the announcers don’t know who he is, but the shock isn’t that it’s Nigel, it’s that it’s not Burchill. Cryme Tyme is taken aback, looking at each other and going “What’s up with this?” It’s just the break Nigel needs to waylay JTG with the Jawbreaker Lariat. Shad then attacks Nigel and they brawl around the ring until Burchill rushes down and jumps in, making it a two-on-one against Shad.

The next week, Burchill introduces the world formally to Nigel McGuinness and explains that the two have a history going back to before the WWE. He learned the trick from his days in ECW battling the Hurricane, which made sense to have Helms be the first victim of it. Nigel gets on the mic then and says that he was looking for a way to really make a mark, so why not come in and team with the only other person who had the raw potential and the lack of morals to do everything and anything it took to make it to the top. He says that while he could have come in and made his way to the top by himself, with Burchill, both men would be unstoppable. It’s all because they’re scoundrels, they’re ruthless… they’re Blackguards. Talented and without a conscience.

Naturally, their first feud is with Cryme Tyme, with the Blackguards getting the upper hand in the first few weeks with their underhanded tricks. Of course, CT, being thugs themselves, fight fire with fire. This culminates in a #1 Contenders match to the Tag Team Championships at No Way Out, which the Blackguards win. They’ll go onto WrestleMania to win the titles from the hot fan favorite team of Rey Mysterio and Evan Bourne.

Whys
Why does this seem like more a fantasy book for Paul Burchill?
Yeah, it seems that way because Nigel’s under the mask and unknown his first few weeks in the company. I really didn’t have a lot to flesh out after they revealed him. I mean, it’s all just garden variety stuff, they beat Cryme Tyme then win the titles. Like I said before, Danielson would be the easier guy to plan for initially, even if I think Nigel can become bigger quicker.

Yeah, this totally isn’t as extensive as the one for Danielson, but again, I didn’t have as much material for Nigel as I did in mind for Dragon. Of course, I don’t expect either scenario to play out the way I have it here. Not even close. I expect both guys to go to ECW and start from the bottom, like CM Punk did, like Evan Bourne, Kofi Kingston, Jack Swagger, The Miz, and now, Zack Ryder and Sheamus O’Shaugnessy. Still, this isn’t “How I think the WWE is going to introduce these guys”. The title is how I’D introduce them. Sure, I think about this stuff differently than the writers do, but hey, it makes for an interesting read. At least I hope it all did.

From the Archives, DragonNigel Week: Bryan Danielson vs. William Regal

I don't know the exact date of this match, but it's from 2001 or sometime before. How do I know that? Because the WWF cut ties with Memphis Championship Wrestling sometime in 2001. Aaaaanyway, Bryan Danielson takes on one of his mentors, then-WWF Commissioner and "goodwill ambassador" William Regal in a fun little match. You're not going to see much in the way of classic AmDrag spots except for the European uppercut, but there's a good amount of mat wrestling and the requisite stiffness you'd expect from these two. Enjoy!

Shut the F Up, AJ Styles

What's that? Someone doing the Pele Kick that's not AJ Styles? THAT MEANS AJ STYLES STOLE A MOVE!!!!!11

I like AJ as a performer and I think TNA should push him a little harder, but I never want to hear him bitch about someone stealing his moves or stealing moves in general again. Never. Grow a fucking set of balls, keep your mouth shut and plug along, because shit like this will happen.

From the Archives, DragonNigel Week: Nigel McGuinness vs. Delirious

Here's the match I promised from yesterday :)

As noted yesterday, Delirious is indeed full of awesome and win, and it shows in this match with his antics and frenetic yet strangely technically-based offense. However, the star of the week is Nigel, and I think he ends up being the star of the match. He's such a good wrestlers. I love how he integrates mat wrestling in with the "MOOOVZ~!" that all the indie fans have become accustomed to seeing. I honestly think that Nigel is the one guy among all the indie darlings who is most tailor-made for success in the WWE. It's funny, Danielson is the one who probably will forgo FCW, but I think Nigel doesn't need the time either. Still, he'll get it, but he can only benefit more from it I suppose.

The match... enjoy!

Khali to Take Time Off

Per F4WOnline

Khali's gonna get knee surgery. He's needed it for about a year now. Oh, that's why he's looked extra sluggish in the ring. While I hate wishing injury on anyone or being happy that someone's hurt, I'm really not broken up about this injury. Maybe it'll free up Kane to do battle with Batista or Undertaker while CM Punk feuds with the other one. Preferably Kane/Batista, since I want to see, y'know, GOOD wrestling coming out of the World Championship feud.

TH Books Bryan Danielson's WWE Debut

We all know how Bryan Danielson will be treated out of the gate, or do we? That’s the big question. The cynic in us will make us believe that he’ll be given a lame name and be put into matches against Tyler Reks on ECW. Then again, he is politically connected to HBK, which gives him something that Colt Cabana, Chris Harris, Claudio Castagnoli and others could only dream of having.

Regardless of how he’s treated out of the gate, wouldn’t it be nice to see Danielson come out of the gates, guns blazing, going toe-to-toe with Chris Jericho, standing side-by-side with Batista as an equal, challenging for gold at the Royal Rumble? Think that couldn’t happen? Well, this scenario, which I think is very easily implemented, is one that would make many people happy if it comes to life. Booking 101 at its finest:

Five Days after Survivor Series...It’s the first Smackdown after Survivor Series. Chris Jericho and The Big Show have just defended their Unified Tag Team Championships again successfully, this time in a four-way match against Legacy, DX and Two Chubby Black Guys (i.e. MVP and Mark Henry). Jericho comes out with a microphone with Show looming behind him and starts cutting a promo about how he and Show have completely decimated all the competition in the WWE since forming their lethal tag team combination. He goes into his normal shtick, but when he utters the line “I am the best in the world at what I do…” a WWE-ized version of “The Final Countdown” cues up, and out walks Bryan Danielson.

Of course, most of the crowd won’t know who he is, but a portion will pop. For the viewing audience, Todd Grisham asks who he is, and JR replies that it’s the American Dragon, Bryan Danielson, the WWE’s newest signee and the reputed best technical wrestler in the world. JR puts over how Danielson is a student of Shawn Michaels’ and so on and so forth. Anyway, Danielson has a mic as well, and he says “Hold on, Chris. You say you’re the best in the world at what you do? Well, that’s not what I heard. What I heard is that mantel belongs to me.”

Of course, Jericho asks who this ginger-looking fellow is and Danielson responds “I’m Bryan Danielson, the American Dragon, and contrary to what you might think, I am the best wrestler in the world.”

Jericho responds with some snide comment about how Danielson ruled the bingo halls and minor leagues and then brush him off, but Danielson has other things in mind. He challenges Jericho to a one-on-one match later that evening. Jericho again brushes him off, saying that he doesn’t wrestle greenhorns and amateurs, and that Danielson would have to prove himself before getting a match with him.

So, on Superstars the following week, we see Danielson in action for the first time, against Charlie Haas. Haas gets the best of him at first, but Danielson comes back with a roll-up for the win. The next night on Smackdown, Danielson comes out and challenges Jericho again, and Jericho rebukes him once more, saying a roll-up win isn’t good enough. He needs something more decisive. Danielson is frustrated and asks Teddy Long for a rematch against Haas, which he grants for that night. This time, Dragon is more impressive, winning with the cross-face chicken wing. After the match, he asks Jericho if this is sufficient, and Jericho again refuses, saying that anyone can beat Charlie Haas. He wants a bigger win on the résumé.

(Note on the finisher: I chose the chicken wing because that’s the finish I think he’ll get to use once he gets to the ‘E. The Triangle Choke looks too much like Taker’s Hell’s Gate, and Cattle Mutilation might be a move too risqué for the WWE’s tastes at first. I think it’ll be a good move to break out in a huge match later down the line though. However, the chicken wing does present a problem. It would be hard to resist the urge to saddle Danielson with a Bob Backlund-esque gimmick. Danielson looks like he could be related to Backlund because hey, he’s a ginger. I still will go with the chicken wing here, but another submission finisher could be a better fit.)

So, on Superstars, Danielson wrestles David Hart Smith. The larger Smith has his way with Danielson early on, not only with power, but with shenanigans on the outside from Tyson Kidd and Natalya Neidhart. The ref catches wind of these shenanigans and tosses them, giving Danielson an in. He fights back, using leverage, key strikes and wear-down holds to get Smith in his grasps for another chicken wing victory.

We’re up to the Smackdown right before the Tables, Ladders and Chairs pay-per-view event, and again, Danielson is challenging Jericho, with Jericho refusing. This time, the reason is “just because I can refuse to wrestle you. I am the best in the world at what I do, and I deservedly get catered to. I don’t give into demands”. Danielson is furious. Just as Jericho is ready to walk away from the ring, Teddy Long comes out and tells Jericho that if he’s really the best in the world at what he does, he’s not going to fear some “greenhorn” or “amateur”. He makes the match for TLC, and if Danielson can score a victory, he’ll earn himself a Tag Team Championship shot with the partner of his choosing.

Their match opens TLC, with it getting about 8 minutes of solid, back-and-forth action which spills to the outside. With the ref keeping watchful eye on the Big Show while making his count, Jericho and Danielson throw each other into guardrails and steps and everything. At 9, both men scramble to get back in the ring. Danielson slides in first, kicks Jericho in the face to keep him out, and makes it while Jericho is counted out. Danielson wins and gets his shot at the Tag Team Championships. Both Jericho and Show are LIVID!

The next Smackdown, Show and Jericho open the event running down Danielson, telling everyone that he only won on a technicality and shouldn’t be allowed to contend for the Tag Team Championships because he didn’t pin or submit Jericho. They demand Teddy Long come out and reverse the decision, but instead, they get Danielson. Dragon has a mic and he tells Jericho that if he really were the best in the world at what he did, he would have been smart enough to realize what was going on and jockeyed for position a little better. He then goes on to say that he’s chosen a partner through the recommendation of a friend. Out comes Batista. Jericho looks like he’s seen a ghost, while Show looks a bit nervous.

Since there’s a lot of time between TLC and the Royal Rumble, there’d be a lot of ground to cover, and a lot of different matches to hype things up. Basically, there would be a lot of six-man matches and a lot of matches between Batista and Jericho or Show between then and now. The object would be to protect Danielson at all costs while using disqualifications or off-man pinfalls (say, like Finlay taking a fall in a six-man) to keep the heat going. The match is set for the Rumble though, getting 10-12 minutes. Batista and Show spill out to the outside of the ring, while Danielson and Jericho are the legal men inside it. Danielson has Jericho dead to rights, tagging him with a step-up enzugiri and ready to lock in the chicken wing. As he’s standing near the ropes, Show tosses Batista into the guard rail, hops on the apron, turns Danielson around and knocks him the fuck out with his big right hand. Jericho snaps up Danielson for the roll-up vulture win.

Later on in the Rumble match, Danielson eliminates Jericho, but gets eliminated by Mike Knox. Next Smackdown, we have a six-man tag match. Finlay, Batista and Danielson taking on Knox, Jericho and Show. The finish is irrelevant compared to what happens after the match, where Knox goes apeshit and just starts wailing on Danielson from behind. From there, Danielson can begin his real building process getting wins in the mid-card, starting with the feud with Knox.

The Whys
Why Smackdown? Everyone thinks he’s going to ECW, but I think it’d be neat to bring him to a wider-release show from jump. He has the in-ring tools, and actually, I think his mic skills are underrated and he could hold his own with Jericho from the start. He won’t be as good as Jericho, but he won’t be embarrassed by him.

Why Jericho? From start, Jericho and Danielson already have a natural rivalry over being called the best. Plus, Jericho feuded extensively with HBK last year, so feuding with Michaels’ pupil is natural as well.

Why debut him without fanfare? It'll have more impact that way. Even if the crowd doesn't know who Danielson is, they can pick up on what he's all about within the first segment. The viewing audience at home has Jim Ross to fill in the details for them. While having vignettes prior to his debut would be a smart idea in any form, I don't use them here because the entrance doesn't call for them.

Why the countout win? Because Danielson shouldn’t be going over Jericho via pinfall cleanly from jump, and it’s a good way to prolong a feud without doing a Dusty finish.

Why Batista? Because it provides a link to Michaels without dragging Michaels over to Smackdown. It also provides physical credibility to the challenge to JeriShow.

Why would Danielson take a clean pinfall in the tag title match? A few reasons. One because he needs to take pinfall losses here and there. Two, because it’s a good way to get him out of the tag title feud without dragging it along so he can get valuable pinfall/submission wins sooner rather than later. Three, because taking a KTFO punch from Show isn’t something to be ashamed of. Four, because the nature of the pinfall, as well as eliminating him in the Rumble, is such that he can have something to lord over Jericho in the future when he’s ready for a full singles program with him.

Why have him eliminate Jericho and then get eliminated by Knox? The former is already answered. The latter is a feud starter.

Yeah, it may seem absurd to put Danielson against Jericho right away, but I think there’s something special about him. I also think the WWE realizes that as well. Danielson, as mentioned before, has the connections, and with TNA not really being all that much competition, being the best across a spectrum of indie feds across the country, from PWG in SoCal to indies in Chicago and Dayton all the way to ROH in Philly and even in the South before IWA-MS went belly-up might give Danielson the same oomph and same importance that a Jericho coming in from WCW in 1999 had.

How’s that for full-circle?

The Best Moves Ever: MMA ELBOWS~!

CM Punk has beefed up/revamped his moveset since coming to the WWE, depending on whom you ask. One of the moves that I like so much has been the MMA ELBOWS~! he throws, as shown here in this amusing gif, featuring a little kid in Hardy paint looking horrified:



But, as with his other big-time moveset addition, Go 2 Sleep, this was a move that was never really his originally. Far be it for me to whine and cry about stealing moves like AJ Styles though. I actually don't mind when people lift moves from guys in other companies. However, as with the G2S, the original guy does them better, although the gap between Punk and Bryan Danielson isn't as wide with these elbows as it is between Punk and KENTA for the G2S. Yes, Danielson, has a lot of very obvious MMA influences in his wide moveset. The most used of those moves are his Triangle Choke and these, clubbing elbows that will break anyone down. Here he is destroying CIMA with them:

From the Archives, DragonNigel Week: Nigel McGuinness vs. Elijah Burke... from OVW (!?!?!?!)

Tit for tat, as yesterday, I posted Bryan Danielson involved in a WWE squash match early on in his career. Today, well, I found something a little more surprising. Turns out that when Nigel McGuinness makes his debut appearance with his new contract, it won't be the first time he's been in a WWE match. Same with his first FCW match... it won't be the first time he wrestled for a developmental territory. Turns out that Nigel had a cup of coffee both with the big company and with the former minor league, OVW. He wrestled on Heat against Danny Basham, but the match I got today is from OVW against Elijah Burke. It's more of a squash than the Danielson/Cena affair was, but Nigel does get some offense in. Towards the end you get to see a backstage segment featuring Paul Burchill and Mr. Kennedy. Funny how many recognizable faces there are in the clip.

Anyway, enjoy!



ETA: You might notice that neither Chris Jericho nor Delirious are in this video. Well, I had a FtA lined up that featured one of them, but found this one and thought it fit better. However, the other match I have will be saved for another day.

Chris Jericho and Delirious Are Full of Awesome and Win

Ever wonder what would happen if the blithe and sarcastic tweener Chris Jericho met up with Delirious? Well now you don't! I found this vid trolling for a good FtA gem (given the theme of the week, try and guess what the next one's gonna be!), and lemme tell you, it was as good as I thought it was going to be clicking on it. Jericho and Delirious show why they're two of the best out-of-ring characters in wrestling history. I was rolling towards the end when Jericho explained that he was getting paid in figs for his appearance.

The tracking is a bit off, but enjoy!

More Jarrett Allies Bite the Bullet

Courtesy of F4WOnline

Just when you thought it was safe to be a Jeff Jarrett ally in TNA, Jim Cornette and BG James (nee Road Dogg) were axed. The downside to Corny going is that he was the one guy in-house who actually knew something about solid booking. The upsides? Well, do you really want a glut of people thinking Matt Morgan was a bona fide main eventer?

Da Meltz and Alvarez Are Chock Full of Interesting Tidbits

Courtesy of F4WOnline

The bullet points of the interesting stuff:

- Ric Flair and Ken "Kennedy" Anderson are both going to work for Hulk Hogan's new Hulkamania promotion as wrestlers. So much for Flair being the guy who bucks the trend of wrestlers' retirements not meaning anything.

- Linda McMahon's running for Senate. How much you want to bet there's an angle about that?

- The WWE had a video of the Pierre Carl Ouellet/Kevin Nash match from IWS a few months back pulled for copyright even though they didn't own the copyright. PCO is pissed, and so should IWS if they wanted the video up.

Usually, trolling Da Meltz's free site portion really doesn't turn up much in the way of really good news, but today's a bit different. Stay tuned, especially for Flair/Hogan, the Retirement Home Years! Maybe one of these days, I'll buck up for the subscription and get the inside stuff.

RIP Jack Foley

Source

Mick Foley's father, Jack Foley, passed away today. Not very happy news for the current TNA wrestler. He was the original "Cactus Jack" and a very influential figure in Long Island scholastic sports. He was 76.

I would like to wish the Foley family my most heartfelt condolences. Losing a parent sucks. I don't know about it firsthand, but I've seen my father, father-in-law and mother-in-law have to deal with it in the last four years. It's not fun.

From the Archives, DragonNigel Week Edition: Bryan Danielson vs... John Cena (?!?!?!)

If you think that the first time Bryan Danielson steps into a WWE ring under his new contract will be his debut for the company, think again. He had a cup of coffee... more like a shot of espresso with the WWE in 2003 against a young John Cena on Velocity. Remember that? When the 'E had a jobber show? Yes, this is a glorified squash match, but Danielson actually gets a lot more offense than your typical local talent would get. For a short match, this is a good one. Also, it's funny to hear some of the references and people involved. Hulk Hogan? The Rock? Brock Lesnar? A spiky-haired Josh Matthews calling a match with Ernest "The Cat" Miller? HOLY SHIT! A lot has changed in 6 years. A lot has changed indeed.

The Best Moves of All-Time: Jawbreaker Lariat

Everyone does a clothesline, but few do a lariat. What's the difference? A lariat looks like it will legitimately fuck your day up. The most famous users of the lariat are Stan Hansen, Kenta Kobashi and John Bradshaw Layfield, but among those in the indies, none was more feared than the dreaded Jawbreaker Lariat from Nigel McGuinness. His ranks up there with the aforementioned all-timers (and JBL), and he probably gets points since he doesn't have to do it shoot-style like Hansen (because unlike Hansen, he can see, you see). His also looks as stiff as Kobashi's, although Nigel can thank puroresu's influence on the American indies for that. Anyway, enjoy!

Charges Dropped against Kurt Angle

Source

I still say TNA should have had him drop the title and had him lay low until everything blew over, but hey, the man was vindicated in the end. Good for him. If you thought TNA made the right call sticking by him, kudos to you.

I still stand by my assessment of him being batshit crazy though.

DragonNigel Week

Before I start, I won't be watching RAW tonight. Too much stuff to do. I'll probably end up DVRing the replay on Universal network and watching it Sunday morning.

In honor of both men being signed to WWE deals and in the grand tradition of Ricky Steamboat Week and Mitsuharu Misawa Week, the Wrestling Blog will honor both Bryan "The American Dragon" Danielson and Nigel McGuinness. Two independant icons are moving on, and since they may never be bigger than they are now (although we all hope that they blow up and become major stars in the bigs), why not honor them? There will be FtAs featuring both, Best.Move.Evers for both, I'll have commentary and I'll even write out how I'd book both of their introductions into the big leagues. Plus, maybe a few guest blogs as well?

Stay tuned for DragonNigel Week. I hope you all find it to be pretty cool.

Jeff Hardy Just Doesn't Learn

Via Dot Net

Hey, at least he wasn't under contract at the time, so it can't be his third strike. Honestly, the guy's a fucktard. I don't care if he drew money, the WWE would be stupid to bring him back ever, that is if he ever gets out of prison.

Oh yeah, I'm back from vacation.

Friday Five: WWE's New Breed

Last post before radio silence for the weekend. I'm on mini-vacation for my anniversary, so I leave you with this Friday Five:

1. Is Bryan Danielson indeed the Best in the World?

2. Of these three new additions to the roster, who will make the biggest impact in the future and why: Sheamus O'Shaunessy, Yoshi Tatsu, Tyler Reks?

3. Nigel McGuinness and Paul Birchill as a tag team, great idea or greatest idea? (credit from TK)

4. Will Abraham Washington ever wrestle?

5. What other ROH/Chikara/PWG/IWS/other indie stars do you see making it to the WWE and why?

ROH on HDNet Taping, 9/10....

...or, how I came about making the American Wolves hate me so much within a period of one match.

So yeah, if you couldn't tell already, I attended the tapings for ROH tonight, me, Tom Kingsmill and Sean McLaughlin. We got free tickets, but upgraded them for $5 apiece to the second row, which made it that much better.

I thought the action was a bit uneven, too many run ins and interference for my tastes. Again, ROH is supposed to be different. I don't care that they have TV now; I don't want to see a clone of WWE booking, even if it's just partial or a weak clone. I want clean finishes more often than not.

However, the good wrestling was great. Nigel McGuinness and Colt Cabana had a fun match in the main event of the second taping. The crowd was nuclear for Nigel, as was to be expected. There were a few boring chants that went up near the beginning of the match, when both men were really hitting the matwork really hard. I know it's hard for your average spotmonkey-loving indie fan to appreciate good mat wrestling, but it still doesn't make it any less infuriating when there's a good exchange between two gifted mat wrestlers and some emo jackass or annoying girl in the crowd starts chanting "Boring, boring." Really? That's boring? I'm sorry then.

I hate to sound like a wrestling snob, but then again, when I hear people saying that the TV tapings have killed ROH's Philly crowds, I tend to believe it. Case in point; Chikara King of Trios Night 1. Johnny Saint was arguably the most over guy of the night, and the only thing he did was mat wrestle. Skayde was similar. He threw in some cool lucha stuff, but people in that crowd appreciated the mat wrestling. That crowd, which was bigger than the ROH crowd tonight, ate that shit up. Even though I thought Saint was bordering on excessive with the mat stuff, it was still cool to see people have an appreciation for the fundamentals.

Okay, rant over.

The meat and potatoes of the night were found in the excellent array of tag team matches. We had one really good tag team affair between the Young Bucks, who are fast becoming one of my favorite tag teams, and the Briscoes. My feelings on the Briscoes are well-known, but I have to give respect where it's due. The Briscoes are fine wrestlers, and I can enjoy them in the ring if I don't have to hear them cut mush-mouthed promos where they say "Man up!" every other phrase. They can also be entertaining out of the ring if they have someone awesome like Delirious to play off. The match was good until the end when the Dark City Fight Club came in and ransacked both teams. Again, like the problem I had with the Cena/Jericho match on 4/20 and the MVP/Orton match the very next week, I want a clean or even pseudo-clean blowoff to a well-wrestled match. Fuck.

The other tag matches on the card both rate as excellent, among the best tag matches I've seen all year. The first one pitted the Super Smash Bros. against Kevin Steen and El Generico. Player Dos was unmasked, which is funny for me being used to seeing him in Chikara with the mask on. Anyway, fantastic tag match with the SSB bringing most of the good tag team synergy (coming from Chikara, this has to be expected) and Steenerico bringing the jaw-dropping singular spots. Very well-worked match, and I hope the SSB get more consideration in ROH. They deserve the spotlight on them. Steenerico win after a Package Piledriver and a brainbuster (grounded, not the BRAINBUSTAAAAAH~! onto the top turnbuckle) from Steen and Generico respectively. Sportsmanship abounded after the match.

The second one was part of the Final Countdown tour. Bryan Danielson teamed up with Roderick Strong to take on the American Wolves, Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards. Like Nigel, AmDrag was nuclear over. I mean, no one said a cross word to him at all. Same couldn't be said for the Wolves though. Edwards gave me a couple of deathglares when I told him his mother must have hated him to name him twice and then proceeded to chant "Edward Edwards". Meanwhile, Richards had Strong in a modified cloverleaf, and I yelled at him "You sir are no Dean Malenko". He responded "Yeah, I'm better", but for the rest of the night, the crowd where I was sitting taunted him and chanted "Dean Malenko" at him. I'm pretty sure they're going to hunt me down and kill me, to be honest.

Haha, no in all seriousness, the Wolves took the ribbing like good heels would and should, and I thought they were awesome interacting with the crowd. Good show, EE and DR. It made the show have an old-school feel. In fact, most of the heels interacted with the crowd and responded to catcalls and boos. That was one of my favorite parts of the show.

Back to the match, it was another really good tag affair. Both teams worked the tag synergy, and all parties involved were crisp on offense and good with selling. Finish came with Strong tapping to Edwards' single crab with DR and their manager (name escapes me right now) restraining AmDrag. After the match, the Wolves left and the crowd chanted "Thank you Dragon" at Danielson. AmDrag got on the mic, asked the crowd to thank Strong and then put him and their match for the tapings tomorrow night over. He then requested that they play the real version of "The Final Countdown" instead of the bastardized one they have to use for tapings. Show over.

Not their strongest show, but I still had a really good time. Being a wrestling fan is one of the joys of life, especially when the wrestlers give you the time of day, be it the faces slapping your hand or the heels selling your insults. Even now, as ROH is losing a lot of its critical acclaim, it's still a great show to go to, if just to experience seeing wrestlers in the intimate settings of The Arena and having them make you a part of the show.

Show and Khali in Backstage Altercation

From SmarksChoice where they got it from The Site That Shall Not Be Linked

Show was pissed at Khali for "glomming" moves from him (glomming in quotes because we don't know what moves they were) and basically instigated a fight. It ended with Show slipping on some bags and Khali mounting him. My take? Why couldn't it have been the other way around? Show's awesome, Khali's a slug, but Khali was right in this instance. Even if Khali was glomming signature spots, there are other ways to go about handling it. Now Show's gonna be rightly disciplined for it. Ugh.

And another thing, about glomming moves altogether... wrestlers need to get over it. Unless it's a 100% signature spot being done by a guy in the same company, it's not a big deal. AJ Styles, I'm looking in your direction. Styles has been quoted recently that Michelle McCool stealing the Styles Clash was not cool. He had to be talked down from that position by one of the Knockouts, but in the next interview he basically accused John Morrison of stealing all his moves. Uh, hello? Not many people innovate moves, AJ. In fact, Styles himself is guilty of stealing the Pele kick from an West Coast indie wrestler. Styles is falling into the trap of keeping the WWE in his mouth, which is horrible strategy for anyone in TNA right now. Why bring the thunder on yourself? Who cares if the other guys steal your moves?

Wrestlers are such primadonna babies sometimes.

Quick Hits: The Quick Hits Strike Back

- Big ROH news, Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness will wrestle in both their final ROH matches on September 26th at the Manhattan Center. The original plan was McGuinness/Roderick Strong and Danielson/Austin Aries for the ROH World Championship, but with both guys leaving, this match has more caché I suppose. Of course, it's entirely possible that Danielson's final match will still be for the strap; Nigel's getting a shot at Aries two days prior in Chicago.

- From the same link, Tyler Black will be missing the next set of TV tapings, as he's recovering slower than expected from neck surgery. Neck injuries are never all that fun. Best wishes, and here's to him recovering so he can cut himself back home in Iowa sooner rather than later!

- An update on the Angelina Love situation, her agent posted a Myspace blog pretty much saying that once her visa issues are cleared up, she's back in TNA. Typical rumor refuting, saying nothing but the obvious. Still, I'd like to hear TNA's side of the deal.

Who Could the WWE Snap Up Next?

Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness were the first two names from ROH/the high indies to be snapped up by the WWE. Because they happened in such a short time-span, people, including myself at first, started calling it a raid. Truth be told, it'll only be a raid if there's more to come. Even though AmDrag and Nigel were two of the finest and most visible guys on the scene, it'll take more for the WWE to be considered pillagers.

However, it's been rumored that the WWE had five names in mind when all the talk about signing ROH talent began a week or so before Danielson inked. While ROH contracts may be easier to get out of than, say, a WWE contract, it seems most guys are willing to honor their commitments before jetting off. While the next wave may not happen for awhile, something inside me says that it'll happen. So, who are the names? I have a few:

Claudio Castagnoli
Pros: One of the very few indie stars who has size enough to compete, a competant worker in all styles, unique gimmick and talking ability
Cons: Was with the WWE before and they dropped him before doing anything with him, may not accept again because of his status with the Chikara Wrestle Factory

To be honest, the WWE would be quite stupid not to have Double C on their radar again. Whatever happened between him and the brass before should be filed under "letting bygones be bygones", especially when you're talking about a guy with as much talent as Castagnoli. Double C could be an effective heel for years to come in the States while being one of the few who could draw internationally because of his affinity towards the continent of Europe (remember, he's not "Very Swiss", he's "Very European", and Switzerland is sort of a crossroad country with connections to France, Italy and Germany).

Chris Hero
Pros: Another rare guy who's big enough for the WWE to take seriously, good worker, has ability to provide good material for promos
Cons: Looks goofy at times, has potential to look awkward in the ring, promo delivery not as crisp as better talkers in indies

If I were going to put money on the next person to get snapped up by Titan, it's Hero. Yes, I think he has more negatives than Double C (and to be honest, if size weren't an issue, I'd be looking at El Generico, Austin Aries, Human Tornado and Kenny King before him too), but he wouldn't be going straight to the bigs anyway. He'd be given time to work on his negatives down in Florida, and I think a little work in the WWE main event style would do wonders for a guy like Hero who looks a bit out of place at times. You can't teach size, you can't teach innate ability, and Hero has both.

Austin Aries
Pros: Fantastic talker, great worker, very expressive and can exude charisma without talking
Cons: Current gimmick based on being a "sports entertainment-style" heel is hit-or-miss, might be too small for WWE to consider

Apparently, the New Double A's (Arn Anderson will always be the original Double A to me) heel schtick, which KILLED at the tapings I went to in June, isn't going over so well in other cities. A shame, because Aries can just make a sidelong glance at someone and show more character than most people can with a prolonged heel promo (looking at you, Randy Orton). Still, Aries has enough charisma to succeed majorly at the next level. He's also a very good heel worker who can get over very easily to a WWE audience. He's the kind of cheap-heat heel who not only can get himself over, but get a bland face over just by association. The main problem though? Well, he's 5'9" and that might be an embellishment. However, Rey Mysterio is (was?) a credible face draw for them at 5'6". He's the same billed height as Evan Bourne. The difference, though, they're both faces. Underdog shrimpiness works for faces. For heels? Well, it is uncharted territory. The WWE could stand to try out the Napoleonic heel, and Aries is perfect for that role. At this point, it's hard to see whether he'd be considered at all, but if he was, I think he'd kill at the next level.

Davey Richards
Pros: Good worker, has rapport with Danielson
Cons: A little whitebread in personality, on the short side

DR seems to be the guy that the indie fans think will be signed next. I honestly don't see why he'd be an immediate want, but then again, I also don't get heel Randy Orton or intense face Triple H (as opposed to DX Triple H, which is amusing at times). Still, it's hard to deny DR's cred. He's over wherever he goes, and he seems to have the look of a typical WWE superstar if not the size. I can't shake the feeling that the AmWolves are more of an indie act based on their workrate. Time will tell.

Eddie Kingston
Pros: Good promo, can attract Latinos (especially if Rey quits and goes back to Mexico because of his suspension), good brawling skills
Cons: If Nick Dinsmore was too fat for the WWE, then Kingston might have problems, needs to work on ring presence

That's a name you probably didn't expect, eh? Honestly, I think Kingston is a guy that the WWE has on their radar specifically because of demographics. Rey Mysterio is such a draw for the Latino community, which is more receptive to wrestling than most other ethnic/racial groups. Why not try to capitalize on it further with a better-talking, better-working, better-everything version of Savio Vega? The only things that hold Kingston back are his body type and his ring presence. While works fine enough, I get the feeling sometimes that Kingston has the tendency to be boring in the ring. Even against Team Uppercut at King of Trios, I had a hard time really getting into the match because of Kingston. I'm not sure if it's just a problem I have or if other people notice it too. Could be the former, since Kingston is one of the most widely praised wrestlers in the indies by crowds who follow him. Also, he isn't muscular by any means, so he has to work hard to keep his weight down. The WWE has a thing against "fatties" unless you're Samoan (in quotes because their standards are like those of an anorexic teenager). Still, don't be surprised if Kingston goes to the bigs at some point.

As an aside... separated at birth?



PAC
Pros: Best high-flyer in the indies
Cons: Size

Finally, there's PAC. He's not on ROH's roster and has only worked 2 shows for them, but who said that the WWE's indie scope was limited to ROH? Titan LOVES them some high-flyers, noted by the pushing of guys like Jeff Hardy, Mysterio, John Morrison and Evan Bourne over the last decade. For them to pass up a guy like PAC would be insane. He can do some incredibly jaw-dropping stuff, including 630-degree sentons, insane rotations on the SSP, impossible-looking corkscrew moonsaults from the standing position... if Bourne can get over despite not getting as much exposure as other guys because of his SSP, how do you think 'E crowds will react to PAC? No-brainer, I think.

---

There are other guys who could be considered (Generico, Tornado, King, Kevin Steen, Tyler Black, Necro Butcher, Colt Caba... oh wait, they already tried him), but these six to me seem to be the kinds of guys the WWE would go after for whatever reason. Whether they succeed at the next level or not would mean factoring a lot of other things into the equations, but to me, these guys have the most potential, looking at it from a strictly objective... okay, maybe partially objective point of view.